Confessional Lutheranism is a name used by

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

s to designate those who believe in the doctrines taught in the ''

Book of Concord ''The Book of Concord'' (1580) or ''Concordia'' (often referred to as the ''Lutheran Confessions'') is the historic doctrinal standard recognized as authoritative by many Lutheran church bodies since the 16th century. It consists of ten creeda ...

'' of 1580 (the Lutheran confessional documents) in their entirety. Confessional Lutherans maintain that faithfulness to the ''Book of Concord,'' which is a summary of the teachings found in Scripture, requires attention to how that faith is actually being preached, taught, and put into practice. Confessional Lutherans believe that this is a vital part of their identity as Lutherans. The term Confessional Lutheran is generally used among the more conservative churches found in groupings such as the International Lutheran Council (ILC), the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC), and the Global Confessional and Missional Lutheran Forum, though other Confessional Lutheran denominations are independent of the same. Churches of the larger

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; ) is a global Communion (religion), communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of L ...

subscribe to the ''Book of Concord'' as an exposition of faith in so far as (''quatenus'') it agrees with the Bible.

History

Two main confessional movements arose during the 19th century: the Old Lutherans and the Neo-Lutherans. The Old Lutherans originated from the Schism of the Old Lutherans, while Neo-Lutheranism arose in Germany in the 1830s from the Pietist driven '' Erweckung'' ("Awakening"). Neo-Lutheranism itself contained differing camps. It gave rise later to those calling themselves confessional Lutherans. Neo-Lutheranism developed in reaction to

Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

on the one side and

Rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the Epistemology, epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to ot ...

on the other, both of which had arisen in the previous century. German clergymen such as Martin Stephan, C. F. W. Walther, F. C. D. Wyneken, and Wilhelm Loehe became a part of the movement as they studied the works of

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

and the ''Book of Concord''. The Old Lutheran and Neo-Lutheran movements spread to the United States with the Neo-Lutheran Loehe and the Old Lutheran free church leader Friedrich August Brünn, both sending missionaries to newly arrived German immigrants in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, and with the immigration of groups including the Saxons who settled in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

under Martin Stephan and C. F. W. Walther, the Germans who settled in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

under F. C .D. Wyneken, and the Prussians under J. A. A. Grabau in Western New York and southeastern

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

(the Buffalo Synod). In Scandinavia, where High Church Lutheranism and Pietist Lutheranism has been highly influential, the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, Mission Province of the Church of Sweden, and the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Norway entered into schism with their

national church A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing ...

es due to "the secularization of the national/state churches in their respective countries involving matters of both Christian doctrine and ethics"; these are members of the International Lutheran Council with their bishops having secured their lines of

apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the Christian ministry, ministry of the Christian Church is considered by some Christian denominations to be derived from the Twelve Apostles, apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been ...

from other traditional Lutheran Churches, such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya. AugsburgConfessionArticle7OftheChurch

Church bodies using the title "confessional"

Contemporary Lutheran church bodies that identify themselves as confessional tend to be either members of the International Lutheran Council, the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, the Global Confessional and Missional Lutheran Forum, or certain other independent Lutheran bodies. Among the members of the ILC are the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, the Lutheran Church–Canada, the Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Germany, the Lutheran Church of Australia, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil. Among the CELC are the

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as Christian theology, theologically conservative, it was founded ...

and the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Other confessional Lutherans include the Church of the Lutheran Confession, the American Association of Lutheran Churches, the Concordia Lutheran Conference, the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America, member congregations of the Protes'tant Conference, and member congregations of the Orthodox Lutheran Confessional Conference of Independent Congregations,. the United Lutheran Mission Association,. and the Evangelical Lutheran Conference & Ministerium of North America. (all of North America). In the Nordic countries, members of the Communion of Nordic Lutheran Dioceses are a part of the International Lutheran Council: these include the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, the Mission Province of the Church of Sweden, and the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Norway. These dioceses entered into schism with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Church of Sweden, and Church of Norway, respectively, due to "the secularization of the national/state churches in their respective countries involving matters of both Christian doctrine and ethics".

Apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the method whereby the Christian ministry, ministry of the Christian Church is considered by some Christian denominations to be derived from the Twelve Apostles, apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been ...

of the Mission Province is derived from Walter Obare Omwanza, the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya, who, assisted by bishops Leonid Zviki from Belarus, David Tswaedi from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and Børre Knudsen and Ulf Asp from Norway, consecrated Arne Olsson as bishop of the diocese. The Concordia Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sweden are other bodies that identify as Confessional Lutherans in the region of Scandinavia. The Lutheran Church - International, which has an Evangelical Catholic churchmanship, describes itself as adhering to Confessional Lutheranism as it holds that it "preaches, teaches, and confesses the Gospel of Jesus Christ as faithfully witnessed by the Augsburg Confession of 1530 and the Book of Concord." Additionally, the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (AFLC) describes themselves as confessional. The autonomous congregations within the AFLC are only required to officially subscribe to the unaltered Augsburg Confession and Luther's Small Catechism,. but many member congregations officially subscribe to more, or all, of the Book of Concord, while others do so unofficially in matters of doctrine and practice. All internally trained AFLC pastors are taught a ''quia'' subscription of the Book of Concord, leaving the denomination as a whole "unofficially" confessional in matters of preaching and teaching. Though there are some congregations in the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it ...

which would call themselves "confessional", many of those congregations have decided to leave the ELCA due to the liberal leanings of the denomination, most notably their stances expressed in the 2009 ELCA convention.. The ELCA as a whole does not use the title "confessional" to describe itself, but it and the other member churches of the Lutheran World Federation do ascribe to the unaltered Augsburg Confession and the other confessional documents in the ''Book of Concord'' as true interpretations of the Christian faith.. Additionally, the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil uses the title "confessional" on its name, but it instead has a "''Quatenus''" subscription to the Book of Concord and it is a member of the

"''Quia''" versus "''Quatenus''" subscription

Lutheran church bodies and Lutheran individuals that identify themselves as confessional generally hold to a "''quia''" (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "because") rather than a "''quatenus''" (

for "insofar as")

subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century. It ...

to the ''Book of Concord,'' which contains the

Apostles' Creed The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". "Its title is first found c.390 (Ep. 42.5 of Ambro ...

Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed, also called the Creed of Constantinople, is the defining statement of belief of Nicene Christianity and in those Christian denominations that adhere to it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted at the First Council of N ...

, Athanasian Creed,

Luther's Small Catechism Luther's Small Catechism () is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Bapti ...

, Luther's Large Catechism, the

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession (), also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheranism, Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of th ...

, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles, the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, and the Formula of Concord. ''Quia'' subscription (the ''Book of Concord'' is adhered to ''because'' it is faithful to the

Scriptures Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

) implies that the subscriber believes that there is no contradiction between the ''Book of Concord'' and the

. ''Quatenus'' subscription (the ''Book of Concord'' is adhered to ''insofar as'' it is faithful to the Scriptures) implies that the subscriber leaves room for the possibility that there might be a contradiction of the Scriptures in the ''Book of Concord'' in which case the subscriber may hold to the Scriptures against the ''Book of Concord''.. Some Confessional Lutherans maintain that this distinguishes them from other ("mainline") Lutheran bodies and Lutherans, who, they believe, hold to a ''quatenus'' subscription. C. F. W. Walther explained the meaning of confessional subscription:

An unconditional subscription is the solemn declaration which the individual who wants to serve the church makes under oath (1) that he accepts the doctrinal content of our Lutheran Confessions, because he recognizes the fact that they are in full agreement with Scripture and do not militate against Scripture in any point, whether the point be of major or minor importance; and (2) that he therefore heartily believes in this divine truth and is determined to preach this doctrine.

Views on the Antichrist

Confessional Lutherans, including the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and the Church of the Lutheran Confession officially maintain that the Early apostolic Church had been led into the

Great Apostasy The Great Apostasy is a concept within Christianity to describe a perception that mainstream Christian Churches have fallen away from the original faith founded by Jesus in Christianity, Jesus and promulgated through his Twelve Apostles. A bel ...

by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and that the Pope is the Antichrist; the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod affirms that "Antichrist" refers to the office, and not to the person,Connection between the antichrist and the pope
LCMS Frequently Asked Question. while the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod states that the reference is to the office, but not to the exclusion of the current office holder:

References

External links

''The Book of Concord''
a collection of Lutheran confessions, 1580
''This We Believe''
a confession of faith by

*''The Eternal Word: A Lutheran Confession for the Twenty-First Century'' ( Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference):
Article I: Holy Scripture

Article II: Justification

Article III: The Holy Spirit

Article IV: The Person and Work of Christ

Article V: Eschatology - Doctrine of the Last Things

Article VI: The Church's Mission
{{Lutheranism topics Lutheran theology Christian theological movements